To Be The Best
by Cara-Dolce
Summary: The swordsman has accepted that he has feelings for the cook. However, he believes that they are affecting his ability to become the best swordsman in the world. He tries to move past this and become stronger by confessing his feelings to the cook. Set in Water Seven, before Usopp. Unrequited zosan. One-shot.


**To Be The Best**

Ever since he had set foot in the blonde bastard's home, the Baratie, Zoro had this unyielding attraction to the man. Truth be told, he believed that as his feelings for him got stronger, his potential to become the greatest was slowly being hindered by the weakness of feelings. However, no matter how long he meditated, slept or trained, he couldn't make those feelings go away.

Everything about the man drew him in, the power in his legs, his passion for cooking and food, the way he held his cigarette, and the way he stuck to his ideals, no matter how irritating they may be. He was the perfect partner, he was able to spar on equal grounds with him and fight, and he knew that the cook had his back when it came to fights and protecting their nakama.

Although Zoro accepted his feelings for the cook, he needed to find a way to either progress with them and turn them into an advantage of some kind, or he needed to get rid of them all together. He knew that with Sanji there was next to no chance of the ladies man wanting to have a relationship with him of any kind, so he guessed the most likely outcome to his confession. However, there was a slim possibility that the cook may like him back, and he secretly wished that it was the case.

With his heart in turmoil there was no way which he could move forward. This was it. He needed to do this. He would take all responsibility for any strains between the two of them after. They fight a lot, the others wouldn't know the difference, and eventually things would go to how they should be. After all, they are nakama.

So this is why now, Zoro had searched all over the moving city channels of Water 7 to find the hotel that they were going to be staying at. He knew that Sanji would be there alone, guarding their belongings while the others went about trying to organise and fix things with Robin missing and the Merry.

Once he found the room he knocked three times. They had a 'secret' knocking system to allow for the others to know it was one of them. When he heard Sanji call for him to come in, he entered quietly.

"Cook," he greeted, surveying the room for any of the others.

Sanji didn't move from his spot by the window where he was quietly smoking, "Oh, it's just you Marimo."

Zoro walked in and stood just out of the cooks range. He didn't want to be the victim of an attack, if there was one. Zoro cleared his throat quietly before taking a deep breath, "I'm here to take over the shift," he paused as Sanji looked between him and the clock on the wall.

"You're early for once, didn't get lost?" Sanji commented, snickering.

The swordsman grunted in response, "I'm early because there's something I wanted to discuss with you." He fidgeted and he could feel his cheeks heating up. He hoped that it wasn't too noticeable. The cook waited patiently to continue, with a slight look of confusion and irritation gracing his features.

"Look cook, if I don't tell you this now I won't be able to move forward and become the world's greatest swordsman. It puts us in a slightly awkward position, but we are nakama, we will move past it," he paused again closely watching the cook's face.

He now looked concerned, "Spit it out already dumbass, we haven't got all day."

Zoro threw him a look before continuing, "Alright so here's the thing _Sanji_," Zoro made sure to use his name to show him he was serious, "for some god forsaken reason, I am attracted to your stupid ass, you could even say that I am in love with you."

"Now before you say anything," Zoro continued quickly holding up a hand to silence the blonde, "I am almost 100 percent positive that you are a ladies' man and do not have any feelings towards me at all. So, can you tell me now so my heart understands and I can move on? However if you do have any feelings towards me, then this is your time to act, because I will not be giving you, or me, another chance."

Zoro could feel sweat beginning to form on his brow as he waited in the silence for the cook to respond. His hands felt clammy and he felt exposed. Something he never liked feeling. His face by now was a brilliant tomato red and he looked at Sanji's face, watching it getting more and more irritated by the second.

'_Shit,'_ Zoro thought, '_Maybe I have done the wrong thing.' _

His mind quickly went over his speech. He had worked hard on memorising it so that maybe the curlicue wouldn't overreact too much to a guy confessing to him. From what Zoro could remember from previous encounters with presumably gay people, mainly okama's, Sanji didn't react too well.

"Look _Sanji_ if you want, I can just leave," Zoro took half a step back as Sanji moved to stand up, "this is probably a massive shock to you. I will give you some time to think. Believe me; I don't want to be feeling like this towards you either shit-cook."

* * *

_**Sanji's perspective:**_

* * *

"What the FUCK is this about Zoro?" Sanji took a threatening step towards the man. Zoro kept a calm facade; the only signs of his discomfort were beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. _'Does he think this is some kind of joke? Does he think he's being funny?'_

"You said _you_ were in WHAT with _me_?" Zoro took a step back, once again out of Sanji's reach. Shock and anger had taken over the cook's mind; he didn't have much control over his actions or his mouth as he lashed out at the swordsman.

'_How dare he try to fuck with me! I fucking feed him don't I? I sleep in the same room as him. He has got to be joking.' _Sanji's mind was a jumbled mess. How long had the swordsman been harbouring those feelings towards him? They even had showers and baths together for fuck's sake. He felt somewhat betrayed by the swordsman for some unknown reason.

He remembered from many different ships he had seen at the Baratie what sometimes happens on crews where there were men like Zoro; The whippings and beatings that were done in front of his eyes. Zeff had made him watch so he would know what it was like to be on the seas. Zeff personally had nothing against it, he had just feared for the health of his adopted son. Sanji was made known of disease that came with such relationships.

Although he knew Luffy, and his willingness to accept almost anything, he was still scared. Scared to end up like the men he'd seen beaten to death by enraged captains and crew members. If this was a subject that Luffy didn't accept, he didn't want to be thrown into the captain's wrath or off the ship just because the marimo confessed to him.

Sanji's mind, comprehending everything at once, became over worked and reasoning went out the window, leaving the basic need for survival to come into play. He mimicked the crews he had seen in his life, shouting insults at Zoro.

"Are you fucking serious Roronoa? You're a fucking faggot. Of course I don't want to be with your fucking ugly face. Disgusting. Fucking freak. You're a disgrace to the crew. You make me want to throw up," Sanji raised his leg and aimed a kick to Zoro's face. Zoro dodged, making him go between two of the beds in the room.

Seeing a path to the door Sanji stormed out, slamming the door behind him. He stood in shock outside the door over what had just happened.

Almost immediately, his mind settled, although adrenaline still pumped through his veins. Guilt washed over him. He turned around and put his hand on the door knob; he would go in and beg for forgiveness. The Marimo did nothing to deserve that, and Sanji knew it well.

As he was about to turn it he heard a choked sob coming from within the room. _'Oh shit,_' Sanji thought. He had made Roronoa Zoro, The Demon of the East, cry. The guilt took over his whole body as he let go of the handle. He knew Zoro, better than anyone. He knew that it took a lot for Zoro to express his true feelings and he knew that going in there now while the man was upset would only hurt Zoro more.

Feeling like the scum of the earth Sanji turned and walked away silently, lighting a cigarette, he vowed that he would mend what he had done. No matter how long it took him.

* * *

_**Couple of hours later**_

* * *

It was almost time for Usopp to take the last 2 hour watch at the hotel before they were meeting back at the Merry. Sanji waited outside of the hotel at a cafe across the street, watching the doors for Zoro to come out. Eventually, when he did, he chose the direction away from the Merry, and started walking. He didn't look like he had been crying, from what Sanji could tell. This relieved Sanji slightly.

He followed the Marimo for a distance until he came to a more deserted part of the island. He decided to make his presence officially known.

He called out the swordsman's name in a soft voice, as he approached him. Zoro, who had been facing away from him visibly tensed before turning around.

As soon as the marimo turned around, Sanji was on his knees, his forehead in the dirt. He would apologise how the swordsman would. "You better listen marimo, because I'm only going to say this once," Sanji started off at his normal voice level before raising it to a louder level.

"I am so sorry Zoro. The things I said to you were fucking wrong and disgraceful. You are not disgusting or a freak, you are my nakama and I love you as one. Your life choices are yours, I shouldn't have judged you," he took in a deep breath before continuing in a softer tone, "I know I'm not worthy of your forgiveness, but I am very sorry for everything."

Sanji raised his head off the floor, looking directly at the stunned man. He stayed kneeling. "Now, I will do this properly," he cleared his throat, "uh, Zoro, although I guess I am pretty flattered that you of all people lo-like me, I'm sorry but my feelings don't reflect yours." He quickly added, "it's not because I don't like you, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud, I do like you, but more of a best friend kind of way. I hope you can forgive me."

Sanji, once again, bowed his body into the dirt before his rival. He stayed like that until he heard the Marimo's heavy boots stepping towards him and stop in front of his face.

"Oi, shit-cook," Sanji lifted his head and looked directly into Zoro's charcoal eyes, "get up. Your suit's getting dirty."

Sanji slowly got to his feet, and looked the other in the eyes. Sanji had obvious guilt and regret covering his features. He was truly sorry for his actions towards the green haired idiot. Zoro's face was vacant of all emotion as he took in the appearance of his crew mate. Sighing he made it look as if he was leaving, only to bring his fist up and punching Sanji straight in his jaw. Sanji stumbled backwards, but caught himself. Moving his jaw, he heard it crack and then proceeded to gently rub it for a few seconds, "Yeah, I guess I definitely deserved that," he mumbled, still stretching his jaw out.

The swordsman rolled his eyes, "You did. Alright, let's get back to the ship, before everyone starts worrying." Zoro picked a direction and started walking away, while Sanji stood in his place.

"So are we cool, Marimo?" Sanji called after him.

Zoro stopped and turned around, sending Sanji a rare smile, "Yeah, we're 'cool', shit-cook, we are Nakama after all," Sanji let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't destroyed their strange relationship. The blonde reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a smoke and lit it up.

"Thanks Marimo," Sanji took a drag as Zoro started to walk away again, "Merry is this way, lost shit head." Sanji called walking in the opposite direction. He heard Zoro groaned and he could have sworn he heard the guy mumble about not being lost. He laughed slightly and led Zoro back to the ship.

Zoro knew that he probably wouldn't get over the hurt he felt in his chest for a little while longer, yet he felt he had definitely done the right thing. Yes, the cook had definitely over reacted, but he had expected that from the blonde man. He sighed and looked out across the sea at the setting sun. It had been a long day, but he was sure that now his heart wouldn't be stopping him from becoming stronger and he can finally continue working at becoming the world's greatest swordsman. His hand gently held onto Wado's hilt.

"Oi, Marimo, pay attention, don't get lost," the blonde bastard called in a smug voice. Zoro hadn't even realised he had stopped moving.

Shaking his head he started walking again, "Tch, I don't get lost, idiot cook."

* * *

**A/N: I tried to write angst, could you tell? -.- Yeah, no. I can't write it that well. Well here is some unrequited zosan love. I started writing this ages ago and well, I forgot about it and then I found it and finished it quickly today so everything is fine now. If you see any mistakes or whatever just tell me in a review and I can get around to fixing them. I edit my stories myself, so my editing is pretty shitty. Any pointers or ideas are welcome. I want to improve my writing skills a bit more. I honestly want to know whether or not I am writing everyone in character or are they a bit too much OOC? I feel like sometimes they are in character and then the rest of the time they are kinda not. *sighs* I have never been good with that.**

**If you enjoyed reading, and have time, can you please leave a review? It is greatly appreciated.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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